Netherlands pronounces on the digital economy

The Dutch government says it will come out this year with a strategy to help entrepreneurs and people in the Netherlands to benefit from the digital economy, notes Telecompaper. Secretary of State Mona Keijzer stated in an opinion that digitisation is not only about economics, but also touches on relationships in society, on safety and on accessibility. “The digital economy is not an honest economy everywhere. It is high time that this changes. We must ensure that everyone can use digitisation and that digital companies cannot escape the rules of a regular economy. Only in this way will everyone benefit from digitisation,” the opinion said. Meanwhile Maarten Camps, secretary general at the Dutch economic affairs ministry, said in a new year's address that all companies, including data-rich businesses such as Google, Facebook and Apple, should make anonymous user data widely available. Such data sharing should form part of a new model for economic regulation, he said. The availability of data will improve products and services. Much of this value is lost if the information is only available on an exclusive basis due to ownership rights, an example would be automotive makers with exclusive agreements with dealers to share anonymous user information. This harms competition and contributes to market dominance, Camps said. He noted specifically data used to optimise search engines. Other companies could use this data to innovate and improve their services or develop new products. Of course, this still needs to come with compliance with privacy and security regulations, and companies may ask financial compensation for their data, he said. A public authority could ensure the correct use of such shared data. See more and here